2016 Milwaukee Brewers Mid Year Review

The "Eat that Joba!" Award:
Have got nothing here... Earlier this season made a deal with NeuroticTruth to bring in Houston Street to hold down the fort for a few years while Top 100 Prospect Jorge Rivera develops in the minors. Steet has turned things around since joining the Brewers though, dropping his ERA down to 3.71 and picking up 14 saves. Surprise Hitter Award:
Will have to go with Will Middlebrooks here... Picked up off waivers last year from COL and had a tough transition to Miller Park. This season has been a different story though, hitting at a steady .270 clip, 14 HR's, and leading the team with 44 RBI's.

Surprise Pitcher Award:
Not so much a surprise as a relieved that Jed Bradley and John Stilson are performing like we hoped. Cole Nelson has been a terrific addition to the bullpen as our LH setup guy. Nelson came over in the Corey Hart deal to Minnesota and we like what he's done so far...

Worst Brewers Transaction so far in 2016:
Sending Nick Ramirez to San Diego for next to nothing... Dan Thomas may be a solid bullpen arm in years to come, but Ramirez carries some serious pop...

Get on the Stick Kid or I am Cutting your Ass Award - Hitters:
Russell fricking Martin. With a whopping OPS + of 71, this guy is KILLING me... Thought he'd fill in admirably while Daniel Butler got his time in down in Nashville. Instead, Wilin Rosario is out pacing Martin, and Martin is bitching to me every two weeks about his lack of playing time and how, if given the chance, "I won't regret it"... GTFOH son...

Get on the Stick Kid or I am Cutting your Ass Award - Pitchers:
MR Miles Mikolas is wearing me out... Bounced between AAA and Milwaukee this year once already, this guy is offering up a lot of gopher balls, and his 5.44 FIP isn't looking like it is a statistical anomaly either...

New Kids on the ML Block:
2B Jose Garcia (thank you KnightNoles) has done very well for being so young... .286 BA, .390 OBP, 1.0 WAR, and a modest +0.6 ZR, the Brewers are extremely pleased with the young pup.

Soon-to-be New Kids on the Block:
1st round pick Clark Francis may not be long for the show. He has been placed directly into AA Huntsville to work with the other Jose Garcia.

Second Half Prognosis:
I'm hoping my last trade, sending Logan Schafer to Detroit isn't going to hurt our shot at a wild card. We've got a solid defensive lineup and are more focused on just getting on base than we are hitting it out of the yard anymore. Wunderlich and Middlebrooks should continue to have chances to knock in runs, and it'll all come down to whether or not the starting rotation and bullpen can continue their positive progress throughout the year.